Responsible Citizenship
An education programme in returnee areas of Burundi
Chapter 9 provides an example of education for responsible citizenship in secondary schools in returnee areas of Burundi. Nicolas Servas describes how the RET worked to develop content to help implement the civic education curriculum. The approach drew on the INEE Peace Education Programme's intensive methodology, including workshops totaling 120 hours for training of teachers unfamiliar with participative methodologies. Based on this experience, it is hoped that donor funding will be available to help build capacity to extend the coverage of this approach more widely.
The Responsible Citizenship programme is built on the foundations of the INEE Peace Education programme, integrating elements from Living Values Education (an intra-personal values programme) and in conjunction with the seven themes of civic education developed by the Burundian Ministry of Education: Human Rights, Human Values, Foundations of Power and Democracy, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Environment, Peace Education and International Humanitarian Law. As resources already existed on International Humanitarian Law, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and as the Ministry of Education developed a resource on the Environment, the RET opted for the remaining themes only.